It's time to finally fix our Constitution to add Aboriginal recognition

Michael Long

BACK in my playing days, my coach Kevin Sheedy had a saying: "We're going to keep chipping away at this and getting it right."

I reckon that applies just as much today to something else close to my heart.

And that is fixing a gap in Australia's Constitution. Because right now our founding document makes no mention of the fact Aboriginal people have lived in this land for tens of thousands of years. And it also still has some sections that have negative racial tones, like the part that talks about the states banning a race of people from voting.

We've got a chance in the next two or three years to get this right as a country - by going to a referendum to add this recognition into our Constitution.

I think it would be a great mark in our history. This is a document that is important for all Australians - and we're an integral part of Australia.

Fixing that gap is important to many Aboriginal people. It would be a way of acknowledging that our culture is just as important to Australia's identity today as the British traditions that are reflected in our Constitution.

But it's important for every other Australian too. Because in recognising the long history of Aboriginal people in this land, all Australians can take pride in their connection to the world's oldest living cultures.

That is why tomorrow I'll be taking the first symbolic steps in Australia's Journey to Recognition - a massive relay across the country to build public support to write us into the Constitution.

And I hope that over that journey people will understand - from our children in schools to our communities, shires, local organisations and corporates will realise - "well hang on, this is something that we need to get behind and change". It won't just happen by itself. We have to make this happen.

Governments can do so much, but I think it's got to come from the people. To change the Constitution, ultimately, this needs to come from all of us.

We went part of the way towards doing this in 1967 when we voted to change the Constitution so that indigenous Australians would be counted as citizens. But that referendum didn't recognise our long history and our ongoing role in keeping Australia's unique indigenous cultures strong for each new generation.

This is a part of that journey in Australian history that we haven't got right yet. So, as Sheeds might say, we've got to keep chipping away at it.

Nine years ago I walked all the way to Canberra to ask a prime minister to do more to fix indigenous disadvantage and bring our people in from the cold, as Galarrwuy Yunupingu once said of constitutional recognition.

In that first spontaneous quest, the Long Walk, I met many Australians with open hearts who want us to get these things right as a nation. People came to walk with me. Strangers came out of their homes to greet us and urge us on.

And since then, a movement of Australians has grown to build better relationships between us. Every year, in towns and cities, people hold events to bring their community together in support of Aboriginal culture.

Tonight in Melbourne, we'll be re-enacting that first walk into Dreamtime at the MCG.

The Long Walk movement has taken us quite a distance down that road towards a better future for all Australians.

And now we have the chance as a nation to go the next mile in that journey - to add our people and our culture into Australia's founding document.

I think it is exciting. It's such a positive thing.

We have such a long history as Aboriginal people and that should be recognised.

But it won't just happen.

All of us have to make this happen for our country. If you care about these issues too, it's time to come off the sidelines and get involved.